National Technical Museum - Prague, Czech republic

New exposition was reopened in spring 2011 after four years reconstruction. The transport hall is in the main building and there is special bicycle exposition with motto: „Crank with pedal on the wheel shaft – such a small invention for a person, such a big invention for humanity.“

Jan Kralik was responsible for the structure bicycle expisition in NTM. He made all descriptions for individually bicycles. Some these texts are used in this article.

Vondrichs' collection - 1943

The base of collection in National transport museum is Prague is part of Augustin Vondřichs' collection. His collection was oppened for pablic in Prague in Octorber 1943. He generously donated his collection to the National Technical Museum.

Exhibition – Veloexpo - 1968

New exposition - Hobby-horse, 1820s

In his poem Daughter of Slav Glory, Ján Kollár describes his experience of a trip on a Drais inspection car:

To speed up my trot

And to save some time

A machine I bought

Made by Drais in Mannheim

This year

This machine was devised by Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn and he tested it for the first time on 12 June 1817, when he travelled 15 km from Mannheim to Schwetzingen and back in less than an hour. He acquired a patent in January 1818. In addition to the originals and imitations, different designs also appeared, such as this one, which was discovered in South Bohemia.

Boneshaker, around 1870

In 1867, many Czechs went to Paris for the world exhibition, where they saw a modern innovation of the time in the streets. Then they constructed similar boneshakers, as they were called, at home from a drawing. It is still not clear today whether the first person to fix a bar with pedals on the front wheel shaft of the inspection car was a Paris coachman, Pierre Michaux, or another Parisian, Pierre Lallement. This invention certainly started the production of bicycles.

Prague experienced a great day on 16 June 1868 – the foundation stone was laid for construction of the National Theatre. A ceremonial procession by the inhabitants of the Libeň quarter of Prague was led by Josef Vondřich on a boneshaker. Ten years later, Vondřich acquired an official cycle licence. The original of the oldest document of this type in this country is stored in the National Technical Museum archive.

Boneshaker, around 1870

The first cycle races in this country took place on 16 August 1869 in Brno. The competition became part of a ceremony with a concert and the launch of a hot air balloon. Racing was over 300 fathoms (570 m) and five riders lined up at the start. In view of the weight of the machine (30 kg and more) and the iron tyres the expression “boneshaker” was apt.

Boneshaker, around 1870

This home-made boneshaker has a number of holes in the bars so that the pedals can be fixed for riders of different heights. The seat can also be adjusted. On the evidence of the many machines preserved in local museums, boneshakers were not a rarity in this country and there were several hundred of them in the 1870s.

Kohout, 1879

The first all-metal penny-farthing with rubber tyres was presented by Starley & Co. in 1871. A cycling fever broke out in Bohemia in 1879, when Jan Kohout in the Smíchov quarter of Prague had three wooden penny-farthings made in his factory for his sons. It was modelled on the English Excelsior. They were later used in the Czech Velocipedists’ Club 1880 for training beginners. The frame of one of these was donated to the museum by the club in 1913.

Kohout, 1880

“As has been announced, the members of the Velocipedists’ Club from Prague will make a journey on Sunday the 24th of this month on velocipedes all the way from Prague to Chrudim”, this was the notice in Český Východ (East Bohemia) on 16 July 1881 for the first several-day outing of the “Czech Velocipedists’ Club 1880”. The cyclists rode on all-metal Kohouts made from 1880. One of the first machines, serial no. 19, testifies to a blacksmith's craftsmanship, when weight still did not matter.

Josef Kohout

We are indebted in particular to Josef Kohout (1863-1946), one of the five sons of the Smíchov factory owner Jan Kohout (1819-1884), for popularising the bicycle in this country. Josef was one of the first to ride on a penny-farthing in Bohemia. In 1880, he undertook a journey with his brother František from Prague to Vienna and back, and was co-founder of the Czech Velocipedists’ Club in the same year. In 1882, he won the international one-mile race in Vienna. In 1885, he travelled round Europe, where he visited Germany, Switzerland, France and England. He then represented the English producers Rudge, Starley & Sutton, Hillman, Herbert & Cooper, Singer and others, whose machines became established in this country.

Between 1888 and 1890, he was responsible for the publication of the informative magazine Velocipedista (Velocipedist).

Kohout, after 1885

According to the travel regulations for Prague (1892), a rider older than 16 was allowed to ride a bicycle, furnished with a licence from the police headquarters and a registration plate. The price was between 130 and 145 gulden, which was a workman’s pay for about 6 months. This machine with the front wheel 54 inches (137 cm) in diameter suited a rider about 176 cm tall. The last “Kohouts” were produced around 1893, and a total of about 900 were made.

Training bicycle, 1884

“Dear Friend, We are sending this hometrainer through the waggoner Šípek to deliver to the Kuchyňkas. Have somebody collect it with a two-wheeled cart, as it is quite heavy” Josef Erlebach wrote to Vondřich, when he offered him a training bicycle for his collection in 1927. The handlebars and the seat were adjustable, as was the degree of resistance exerted by the flywheel, on which a weight operated, freely movable on a horizontal bar.

Invincible, 1883

The “Czech Velocipedists’ Club 1880” organised the first “Great international races of the Czech Velocipedists’ Club” in Prague in September 1883. It rained and the club not only lost 309 gulden but also did not win the first Czech Champion title. Josef Kohout, who because he was on military service had not sat on a bicycle for a year, was beaten by a German, Julius Huber. Though the medal went to Munich, the lightweight racing penny-farthing stayed in Bohemia.

Sirius, 1888

František Kliment won the Semmering uphill race on 8 September 1888 on a Sirius machine in a time of 43 minutes 30 seconds. The track measured 10 km with a climb of 400 m. For comparison – at the first car race in 1899, Count Pötting achieved a time of 48 minutes 55 seconds on a 6 hp Nesselsdorfer (later Tatra). Though the firm produced up to 10 bicycles a week, this is apparently the only one extant.

Howe, 1884

The Howe Machine company was represented by Jindřich Leo from Ferdinandová Avenue, today Národní, in Prague. In 1884, he offered five models – the cheapest was the type on display with chain drive. The rear wheel was the driving wheel, which the rider controlled by turning a handle with rack gear and a cable. In view of their weight, heavy gear and potholed roads, tricycles were suitable more for promenades and chateau parks.

Adler, after 1889

Following the invention of the pneumatic tyre (J. B. Dunlop, 1888), these also appeared on racing penny-farthings. These machines were very light (ca. 10 kg) and fragile. The tyres were prone to defects, which ended in falls, not infrequently fatal. Races were held on a track and were very popular. In the 1880s they were built in Pilsen, Poděbrady, Roudnice, Kladno, Kroměříž and in the Žižkov and Karlín quarters of Prague.

On this tandem-tricycle neither the chain nor the differential, which James Starley devised for the tricycle (1877), have been preserved. Machines with more than one seat were exceptional, like the spirit of the poem at its time published in the Velocipedist magazine in 1889.

Kangaroo, 1884

But there was a time when we stood side by side with the wheels all a-flutter,

And all of us longed to have such a machine,

Because they used to call you “the saviour of sport”

“The only really safe machine . Safer than a tricycle. Faster than a penny-farthing. We sell more than 100 of them a week”, stated an advertisement. The chain drive with a gearing ratio of 1: 1.5 speeded up a journey and was most enthusiastically received. But as early as 1890, Velocipedist published the poem “To an old Kangaroo” with a picture of a machine covered in cobwebs. In those years the latest developments became obsolete even after a few months.

Facile, 1881

The popular penny-farthing had one fault: falls from it were painful. One of the first solutions which succeeded in overcoming this problem was patented by John Beale in 1878. Lever gearing made it possible for the diameter of the front wheel and so the structure of the machine to be reduced substantially. Production was started in 1881 and with various improvements, including fitting of pneumatic tyres, continued until as late as 1891.

Rover, 1888-1889

All the important factories were busily engaged in the effort to produce a safer bicycle. Following various attempts, a new machine – the Rover – was presented at London’s Stanley Show in 1885. This meant a revolution in bicycle design. In principle it had approximately the same large wheels, and rear wheel drive provided by a chain. The first attempt was still imperfect, but in 1888 designers had basically achieved their goal. The frame took on a form which has hardly changed until now.

Juno, late 1880s

One of the ways to improve riding safety at the end of 1880s was use of a cross frame. At that time, penny-farthings were still being produced and an implacable war was waged between adherents of these and the others. Various races and trips were arranged, which were to convince the undecided. Low wheels clearly proved the winners and around 1892 penny-farthings stopped being made entirely.

Centaur, 1888

Božena and Johanna Kohoutová were protagonists of cycling in Bohemia, but exclusively on tricycles. A woman could only be seen on a penny-farthing in a variety theatre. But low wheels were an encouragement to the emancipation movement, which fashion designers and also bicycle producers listened to. The Centaur bicycle is an example; the frame made it easier to get on, and the chain cover and rear wheel net protected skirts. Bicycles for ladies meant a further step towards equality with men.

Quadrant, 1888

The Quadrant Tricyle make became famous from 1884 for its tricycle control system, but production of bicycles did not begin until later. The design resisted the shocks on the bad roads at that time well. A noteworthy feature is the belt brake on a shaft in the central part of the structure. The Quadrant cost 20 pounds, more than double the price of the cheapest of its competitors’ bicycles. The wheel drive was expensive to produce and did not catch on. It did not appear until it was used on the American Neracar, which is on display in the motorcycle exhibition.

Augustin Vondřich

Augustin Vondřich (1880-1958), from the well-known Vondřich family, was a remarkable personality, celebrated in cycling and in motoring. In 1905, his cousin Václav was the winner of the international motorcycle race for the Coupe International in France. Augustin Vondřich was a cycling enthusiast. He was a racing cyclist, later a vendor and producer of bicycles of his own make, AVON (Augustin VONdřich), publisher of the magazíne Cyklista (Cyclist), patron, organiser of races and also a lover of cycling history and the history of bicycles. In 1922, he was one of the first people in Europe to start making a collection assiduously. He generously donated his collection to the National Technical Museum. A large number of the bicycles on display are from Augustin Vondřich’s donation.

Excellent Safety, Sparkbrook 1889

Lieutenant Schneider writes of this machine which had been delivered to him: “Now I thank you for sending me such an excellent bicycle. It’s the best on the training course here and has met with universal praise and approval”, stated a promotion advertisement in the Velocipedist magazine (1889). Emanuel Balcar, the President of the Prague Velocipedists’ Club 1883 that year and a well-known racing driver, had a warehouse at Mostecká Street 46 in Prague.

New Rapid, around 1888

The firm prided itself on its tangential cabling, which had already been introduced on penny-farthings. The make was represented by Vilém Michl in Slany, President of the local Velocipedists’ Club (1887), later one of the first domestic producers of bicycles (1895) and later still the producer of Orion motorcycles. Thanks to low wheels, the number of cyclists grew. In 1889, 37 clubs were registered, and in 1896 the number rose to 69, and there were several thousand cyclists.

Rudge, 1892

Though Daniel Rudge died in 1880, his name remained an immortal symbol of the highest quality. The striving for low weight with sufficient robustness led to the Bicyclette model. The frame consisted of twin small diameter tubes, and its form has hardly changed until now. It was a simple and at the same time practical machine with front fork springing and complete with comfortable handlebars.

Styria, 1898

The biggest bicycle producer in the monarchy launched production in 1894. This semi-racing bicycle was one of 15 models which were offered that year. The firm could pride itself on its victory at the first Olympic Games in 1896, where Adolf Schmals won the gold medal in the 12-hour race (295.3 km). The firm was represented in Bohemia by the vendors Švestka & Potůček in Prague, Franz Schepukat in Žatec and Simon Hofman in Pilsen.

Studia Styria, Model 52, 1902

The Emerex lever mechanism extended the step of the pedal from upper to bottom dead centre. In theory this meant less force with the same torque, but in practice it was more expensive and more difficult to produce, to say nothing of the greater friction on the pins. Emerex remained a curiosity, all the more so because in the same year a three-speed rear wheel hub was introduced in England, which made journeys a great deal easier.

Graziosa I, 1896

.The Graziosa make was represented by the Potůček brothers at Žitná Street 2a in Prague. Rear wheel drive by means of a connecting shaft was an elegant solution, which was first introduced by the French firm of La Metropole (1894). To separate the wheel from the fork, however, was complicated, and the mechanism required precise adjustment; the machine was more expensive and heavier. The model I cost 240 gulden, half a journeyman’s pay at that time. With a few exceptions, bicycles with shaft propulsion soon disappeared from the market, including the Graziosa.

Rudge Whitworth Triplet, 1898

In June 1896, a racing track (400 m) was opened in Prague. “There were no races in which some record was not broken, and it is very suitable for machines with more than one seat because of the large diameter of the bends” the press stated. The Rudge Triplet is one of these machines. Riders from all over Europe raced on the track, and in November 1899 Václav Klement presented the first Slavia L&K motorcycle there. The track was on the site of today’s Strossmayerovo Square in Prague.

Cleveland, 1910

The Cleveland make was represented by the Prague businessman Josef Vejtruba. His son Rudolf was the first of our cyclists to win a medal at a world championship (France, 2003, second place). Clevelands sold well thanks to their good price, resulting from large-series production. The company was already producing 100 bicycles a day in 1896. The luxury Clevelands had a connecting shaft and springing of the front and also the rear wheels.

Slavia, around 1905

The owner of a small workshop built a frame from these natural “tubes”. The idea was first put into practice by the English Bamboo Cycle Co. (1894), whose model weighed only 11 kg. In 1895, the Austrian firm of Grundner und Lemisch in Klagenfurt also began to make bamboo bicycles – the material was imported from Shanghai. A. Novotný evidently produced only a few such bicycles or purchased just complete frames.

Unidentified bicycle, mid-1890s (?)

In 1893 and 1894, Valčre et Cie in Paris designed two types of bicycle with a conventional frame, whose rear wheel was driven by the rider with his feet and with his hands too through levers. The design, where the rider operates the front wheel with all limbs and steers the back wheel, is so complicated that it is unique. There has been no success to date in finding a similar machine anywhere else, nor has any mention of it been discovered in the literature.

J-Rad, 1921

On the J-Rad bicycle the rider could prop himself on the back-rest, which made pedalling easier, and three pairs of footboards on levers replaced three-speed gearing. The designer Paul Jaray (1889 – 1974), an Austrian of Hungarian origin, studied engineering in Prague. From the 1920s he took up aerodynamics. He designed a body for Jawa on its first racing special for the 1000 Czechoslovak Miles race (1934).

Levocyclette, 1905

A system from 1905 provided propulsion by means of a complicated lever mechanism. Movement of the chain fastenings connected to the rear wheel was controlled by a rotating handle on the handlebars on levers. A position nearest to the middle of the pedalling mechanism made travelling on the flat fast, and the further from the centre the longer the lever and so pedalling was easier. Its greater weight, complicated production, higher price and also greater susceptibility to failure prevented it from catching on.

Ing Adolf Banouther Company, Cheb, Czechoslovakia, 1937 (?)

A producer briefly built bicycles with a frame consisting of flat springs. The Premier make was attributed to a bicycle from Vondřich’s collection, but this type is not listed in any of the firm’s catalogues. By all accounts the producer purchased standard parts from Premier in Cheb, and completed its frames with these. Its greater weight, more expensive production and questionable robustness class the design as a curiosity.

Premier

The English firm of Hillman, Herbert & Cooper (1876) set up its Czech branch in Cheb in 1891. From this it grew into one of the 17 big domestic producers. In the first half of the 1930s, about 80,000 bicycles were sold every year in Czechoslovakia, and there were 800,000 of them on the roads - the figures are approximate, because statistics were not kept. Premier bicycles excelled by being a reliable purchase and in the wide range on offer.

Praga JKB, 1937

“I rode on a Praga at last year’s Trade Fair in Prague over a 6-metre-long ladder and blocks of wood at least fifty times to and fro, I fell off several times when the rungs of the ladder were broken, but nothing happened to the bicycle. I decided to sell my bicycle and buy a Praga. Karel Richter, Palackého 64, the Nusle quarter of Prague,” an advertisement said. The producer’s speciality was springing of the front and in some cases also the rear fork.

Stadion, mid-1930s

The Stadion company was founded in 1923 by Ing. Adolf Pozděna. As the first in Bohemia, he wrote of a Benz car in 1888: “The motor car is not more dangerous in sport for us than I imagine a mule is to a noble racehorse”. Stadion produced its hundred thousandth bicycle in 1933, when the firm employed 200 staff. The price of the bicycle was about average monthly pay, which in 1930 was 790 crowns.

Helyett Grand Prix, Štantejský, 1938

František Śtantejský began to produce bicycles in 1898, and his sons Ludvík and Zdeněk continued in the business. They made French Helyett bicycles “special racing velocipedes exactly following designs of velocipedes used by leading riders in the classic Tour de France race” from imported parts. The racing type with a Champion derailleur weighed 9 kg, and depending on its fittings cost between 1,200 and 2,200 crowns, nearly three times average monthly pay at that time.

Perič, 1940

Antonín Perič won a number of titles as cycling champion of the Republic between 1920 and 1931. He then made a name for himself with road and track bicycles, which he produced from 1933 up to the 1950s, when the Communists expropriated his small workshop in the Karlín quarter of Prague. Jan Veselý, winner of the first Peace Race (1948) also participated in the race on one of his bicycles. The track bicycle on display was produced in 1946.

Kohout child’s penny-farthing, 1880s

Children’s penny-farthings were very simple and had no accessories, only with friction bearings, as can be seen from this only known Kohout child’s penny-farthing. It had to be as inexpensive as possible both in view of customers’ purchasing power and not to spoil children with expensive presents. All the more so because they could only ride on a small bicycle for one or two seasons before they grew and were too big for the bicycle.

Child’s minicar, 1920s

When bicycles, tricycles and children’s scooters lost their appeal, some firms focused on producing them for very small children. One of the producers was Josef Jaňour in Prague. His minicar was set in motion by levers connected by means of cables to the crankshaft of the rear wheels, and it was driven with the feet. A similar four-wheel vehicle had already been designed for adult riders in the middle of the 19th century.

Child’s tricycle, 1890s

This is a simple and therefore cheap tricycle, and its design suggests that its producer was inspired by the earliest home-made boneshakers. These tricycles were still being produced as late as after World War I.

Child’s Pionýr bicycle, 1950s

One of the biggest factories in this country (daily production 150 bicycles) was founded by the Heinz brothers; the name Velamos was derived from the words VELocipedy (Velocipedes) A (and) MOtocyckly (Motorcycles) and Součástky (Spare Parts). After the communist coup d’état in February 1948, Velamos was nationalized, and in 1952 production of children’s Pionýr bicycles was begun, which continued up to 1979.

Favorit F 12, 1973

Production of sports bicycles was launched, on Party orders, after the Communist coup d’état in February 1948, in the former factory for Tudor bicycles. The name Favorit was taken from the ČZ chain make, and the visual appearance was designed by the graphic artist František Freiwillig. Favorits were designed for sport and though they were of high quality they were in short supply. The F 12 model for juniors was fitted with domestic accessories.

Favorit, around 1960

Trick cycling was engaged in from the end of the 19th century in Bohemia. In modern history, famous figures were Anna Matoušková (five times world champion from 1974 to 1977 and in 1979), Martina Štěpánková (three gold medals at world championships in 1998, 1999 and 2002) and Arnošt Pokorný (world champion in 2004). For top athletes, bicycles were made in small series or individually. Production in Favorit ceased in 2004.

Favorit – bicycle for bicycle polo, 1970s

The brothers Jan and Jindřich Pospíšil became world champions in trick cycling twenty times from the middle of the 1960s to the end of the 1980s. This was an unprecedented achievement in the history of the sport. The seat of their bicycles was moved right to the back and the handlebars turned vertically upwards so that the riders could shoot the ball fiercely with the front wheel. At the same time there were frequent collisions with adversaries’ machines, and also falls. The frame and the cabling had to withstand rough treatment.

Track Favorit, 1964

Trek Touring, V. Dostál´s bicycle, 1994

Thomas Stevens was the first person to ride round the world. He set off on penny-farthing from San Francisco in April 1884 and returned in January 1887. It could not be done much more quickly even today. Vítěžslav Dostál (1959) started out in September 1994 and returned to the Old Town Squere in Prague in September 1997. He travelled 60,000 km on bicycle, changed 28 tyres on the journey, and repaired the inner tubes 107 times. His main sponsor was the Velamos company. It was donated by Vítežslav Dostál from Hlubočec.

Race Štěrba, 2005

The production of bicycle frames and special racing bicycles has a great tradition in the Štěrba company. Robert Štěrba began to practice the bicycle frame craft in Switzerland in a specialized workshop. At the beginning of the 1990’s, when “steel” frames constructed by classical manual technology experiences their apex, our company led by Robert Štěrba was one of the foremost manufacturers in this country.